Move Fallout Hits Philadelphia Mayor

March 07, 1986|By Philip Lentz, Chicago Tribune.

PHILADELPHIA — A stinging report by a blue-ribbon commission investigating last May`s violent MOVE confrontation has dealt a stunning blow to the already sagging political fortunes of Mayor W. Wilson Goode, political analysts say.

The panel`s conclusions, which were released Thursday several days after a draft had been leaked to the press, have led some political analysts here to conclude that Goode`s political career may be effectively finished.

Despite findings that he and his aides were ``grossly negligent`` and that a grand jury should be convened, Goode remained defiant and said he still planned to seek reelection next year.

``I will never quit,`` he said Thursday on a television talk show. ``I believe very strongly that I can govern this city.``

Goode has scheduled a televised address for Sunday night to respond to the commission.

The city`s handling of the May 13 MOVE seige shocked the nation when police, in their attempt to evict the anarchical MOVE radicals, dropped a bomb on their house. The resulting fire killed 11 MOVE members, including 5 children, destroyed 61 houses and left 250 persons homeless.

The commission, which was appointed by the mayor, laid blame for the tragedy on Goode, his top aides and the police.

It said Goode ``abdicated his responsibilities as a leader,`` that the plan to bomb the house was ``reckless, ill-conceived and hastily approved,``

that police gunfire prevented some MOVE members from escaping the burning house and that the deaths of the children ``appear to be unjustified homicides that should be investigated by a grand jury.``

William Brown 3d, commission chairman, said the worst action taken May 13 was the decision by Police Commissioner Gregore Sambor and Fire Commissioner William Richmond to let the fire burn in attempt to force the radicals from the house.

``To allow that fire to burn and to use the fire as a tactical weapon was an unconscionable decision,`` Brown said at a press conference Thursday.

``There`s no doubt in my mind that the lives of the children could have been saved, and maybe several others.``

He suggested that Sambor, who resigned last fall, and Richmond could be criminally liable for the childen`s deaths.

The commission also suggested that a grand jury investigate ``possible perjurious testimony`` made during the panel`s public hearings in the fall.

The hearings exposed numerous discrepancies between Goode and his top aides; an investigation into possible perjury would appear to pose the greatest danger to the mayor.

While the commission did not directly accuse the mayor of lying, its account of the actions preceding and during the seige left little doubt that it did not believe Goode`s versions of events.

District Attorney Ronald Castille said Thursday that he was naming a team of prosecutors to determine whether charges should be made against city officials.

The fact that the panel was named by Goode has added weight to its conclusions and magnified its political impact. There is considerable support here for the theory that the harsh conclusions could mark the end of Goode`s political career.

There have been several calls for his resignation and one civic leader privately predicted that Goode would resign before his term ends in January, 1988.

``My assessment is he`s dead and can`t recover,`` said an aide to a leading black politician.

He echoed a frequently held view that MOVE has reduced Goode`s power, which will make it more difficult for him to deal with the city`s other problems, including political squabbling over a new convention center, a potential budget deficit and the inability to come up with a disposal solution for the city`s trash.